Aftermath
by Deep Metal
Summary: In the apocalyptic timeline he created, is Vandal Savage truly the last man on Earth? Or are there others out there waiting and just dying to meet him? OneShot.


Aftermath

_**Disclaimer**_: Justice League is property of DC Comics and the show's producer Bruce Timm.

_Note: This story takes place in the erased timeline Vandal Savage had created in Hereafter where he caused the extinction of the human race. It was, of course, later erased when Superman showed up to change the timeline back to its original state._

So much time had passed since the day the earth stood still. So much time had passed since he, Vandal Savage, had triggered one of the worst cataclysms in history, raising the sea levels and destroying humanity in an ill-fated attempt to conquer the world.

It had been over a hundred years since that event and ever since then, Vandal had given up on any hopes of humanity surviving the devastation. He had searched far and wide but seen no signs of human inhabitation. It was almost certain that at this point, they had gone extinct… well, not totally.

He was the last remaining human left on Earth. In a way, Savage was proud. After all, he had been the man who triggered a third great chain of mass extinction. It was something that would go down in history… if there were anyone else other than him to write it.

Also, before his entire race had gone extinct, he went up against and defeated the Justice League. That was also something he should very well be proud of. They were Earth's greatest heroes, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Martian, Green Lantern, and Hawkgirl. At that point, their leader Superman was gone thanks to the supervillain Toyman.

Of course, he had fought other heroes along the way, but none of them held a candle compared to the League. Ever since the day he triggered the apocalypse, other heroes had confronted him as well. It was harder and harder to recall their names, since they had neither the name recognition of the League, nor were they as memorable.

Now, of course, he lived off the land. As primitive as it was, he no longer had a choice. The few remaining spots of farmable land were sparse and evolution was taking place right before him. Without humanity, the other species on this planet that had survived the apocalypse were growing larger, more aggressive, and overall more dangerous. Even the bugs were beginning to show some signs of growth…

Suffice to say, it was not a good time to be alive right now, unless you were an immortal who could survive through it all.

But not all of it was bad. His crops were growing at a fairly decent pace and they sustained him quite well. Farming and reading the books he gathered were some of the only activities that could keep his mind sane. Occasionally, he would go out and hunt as well. It was quite exciting too, since the animals around here were more savage and cunning than before.

He could have fun when he wanted and he would work off the land when he had to.

Savage finally got up from his bed. Contemplation time was over and it was time for him to go out and be active. Otherwise, his deep thinking would get to him and drive him to the point of insanity.

Gripping his door, he opened up the house he had built for himself. It took him up to a year to build it. His knowledge of architecture was quite formidable at this point, much like his knowledge of life sciences, biology, chemistry, and the like. He memorized his textbooks inside and out.

He had so much time on his hands. In fact, he had all the time in the world.

Suddenly, the mood changed. Immediately, Vandal Savage could feel it. Something was amiss, prowling around his lands. Whatever it was, it would soon be dealt with.

Savage took out his trusty pistol. It had saved his life many times when hunting dangerous animals. Well, it didn't so much _save_ him, considering he was an immortal, but it helped him out quite a lot.

"I must be growing senile," Savage muttered. He had almost forgotten he was immortal in that instance.

Then the figure stepped out from behind the trees. He was clad in a mask of Anubis, the Egyptian jackal god. His green tunic flowed evenly and the dark green cape helped to complete the color-coding.

"No need for theatrics, Ra's," Vandal Savage smiled. "I can recognize you from a mile away."

Ra's al Ghul, the Demon's Head, removed his mask. He was head of the League of Shadows. And he appeared to be the only other survivor of the apocalypse.

"My God!" Savage ran up, almost forgetting his own etiquette. "I never thought I'd see another human being again!"

"Take your hands off me, Vandal Savage!" hissed Ra's al Ghul as Savage put both hands on al Ghul's shoulders.

"Sorry," Savage withdrew. "It's been a while, what with the whole human race going extinct and all."

Like him, Ra's al Ghul was another immortal, though not quite as long-lived. The source of his immortality stemmed from the Lazarus Pits, mystical pools with regenerative elixirs that could revive the dying and extend their life spans far greater than what was naturally occurring. The Demon's Head had used them to keep himself alive for centuries.

"It has taken me eons," Ra's said. "But now, I have finally found you."

"What can I say?" Savage smiled. "I've been living a somewhat nomadic lifestyle as well."

"You are a fool, Savage!" Ra's al Ghul rounded on the other immortal. "You've destroyed the balance of the world and brought doom upon us all!"

"Now, now," Savage tried to diffuse the situation. "I thought this was always what you wanted, to take out humanity and bring nature back to its natural order."

"Not like this!" shouted Ra's. "I only wanted to reduce Earth's populations, not drive them to mass extinction!"

"Oh yeah, that's right," Savage snapped his fingers. In all this time, he had also forgotten about what Ra's al Ghul was all about.

Ra's al Ghul unsheathed his sword. Someone was clearly angry…

"Huh," shrugged Savage. "Like that's going to do any good."

"Believe you me," Ra's licked his lips. "It will still make me feel better."

"Come on, Ra's old pal," Vandal Savage extended his arms. "We both know I'm the real deal. Cut me into ribbons if you have to. I'll still regenerate myself and once I do, not even the Lazarus Pits will save you."

Ra's hesitated for a moment and then put his sword back into its holster.

"How could you do it?" demanded Ra's al Ghul.

"Do that?"

"Be so implausible ignorant!" shouted Ra's.

"Hey, I miscalculated," Savage put up an arm in his own defense. "We all make mistakes!"

"It was a mistake that cost the entire planet!"

"Well excuse me for not hiding in the shadows like a little mouse," Savage was really getting annoyed with this man. "Waiting for the _right_ time to strike that may never come."

"At least I put more thought into my plans!" Ra's sneered. "You could hardly contain your own megalomania! You just had to carry out the biggest, most grandiose schemes you could think of, couldn't you?"

Savage sighed. He was REALLY getting sick of Ra's al Ghul.

"Think of it like," he patiently tried to explain to the eco-terrorist. "The Earth is always capable of replenishing itself, right?"

"What are you babbling about?!" Ra's demanded.

Inwardly, Savage couldn't help but smile. He was about to demonstrate decades of scientific knowledge he had gleaned.

"One of the fundamental principles of the ecological is that it's always in flux," explained Savage. "You see, change is the only constant in this world and it applies to the environment just as much as it does to human civilizations."

Ra's finally stopped his yelling.

"Ask yourself, why is it that over great periods of time, species die out only to be replaced by others," Savage continued. "The dinosaurs had their time, and then it was the age of prehistoric mammals. Over time, some of those species died out too and then it came down to humanity."

"Which has since desecrated the sanctity of this world!" added Ra's.

"True, or you could look at it from another perspective," Savage sat down. "They're merely continuing the chain of evolution which has existed since the dawn of time. Of course, they met their end as well, and thus the circle of life continues…"

"Thanks to you of course," Ra's frowned.

"Yes, all thanks to me," Savage said with a weary look on his face. "I'll be honest, I'm beginning to regret what I've done."

Seeing the look of regret on Vandal Savage's face only made Ra's al Ghul all the more angry. Who did this man think he was? Destroying the entire human race and throwing the planet off course… Then he dares to shed crocodile tears over it? It was blasphemous to the Demon's Head.

"It's a little too late to change that, Savage!" growled Ra's. "You destroy all of civilization, then you feign sorrow over it?! One such as yourself truly has no shame at all!"

Vandal Savage got up. Guilty of destroying the human race or not, he had had it up to HERE with the Demon's Head.

"What were you thinking?!" Ra's al Ghul raged on. "Did it not cross your mind that your doomsday weapon's magnitude would throw the planet off its rotation?!"

The look on Vandal Savage's face only darkened.

"I'll tell you what you are!" screamed Ra's. "You're a blithering fool who thinks only with his loins, a Napoleonic simpleton who can't comprehend the true degree of power and ruling! You… Vandal Savage… are a mindless, inconsequential imbecile!"

"Ra's."

Ra's al Ghul stopped his ranting and turned to Vandal Savage.

_BAM._

Ra's al Ghul fell to his knees as blood flowed down from his tunic. The livid expression on his face only contorted even worse as he glared at Vandal Savage with outright hatred.

Finally, he fell. The remaining Lazarus pit was all the way on the other side of the world at this point.

"You talk too much," Vandal Savage blew away the smoke from his pistol.

_The End._


End file.
